Method and system for providing information for identifying callers based on partial number

ABSTRACT

Embodiments of the present invention include a caller identification system and method for identifying a caller with a partial phone number look-up table. The caller identification system comprises a database that stores received calls and can be personalized to include information specific to partial phone numbers. In one embodiment, the caller identification system disclosed can be integrated into a cellular phone. In this embodiment, an incoming call initiates a search in a database to retrieve information about the caller. If a match is found, the identity of the caller is displayed. When an exact match is not found, a search for a partial match is executed with wild card values and information about the partial match is displayed. Information for a partial match can be personalized or pre-programmed into the caller ID system such as the city associated with a particular area code or prefix.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of application Ser. No.10/964,387, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION FORIDENTIFYING CALLERS BASED ON A PARTIAL NUMBER,” filed Oct. 12, 2004, tobe issued as U.S. Pat. No. 7,200,211, which is a continuationapplication of application Ser. No. 09/942,481, entitled “METHOD ANDSYSTEM FOR PROVIDING INFORMATION FOR IDENTIFYING CALLERS BASED ON APARTIAL NUMBER,” filed Aug. 29, 2001, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,813,344,assigned to the assignee of the present application. The subject matterin the above-identified and commonly owned applications are incorporatedherein by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to caller identification. Morespecifically, the present invention pertains to a method and system thatenables caller identification look-up functions to be performed withpartial phone numbers.

2. Related Art

Computer systems and other electronic devices have become integral toolsthat are used extensively to perform a wide variety of useful operationsin modern society. Computer systems along with other electronic devicesare finding new applications as a result of advances in hardwaretechnology and rapid development in software technology. The growingaffordability of computer systems and electronic devices together withthe abundance of useful new applications contributes to strong demandfor such systems and devices.

Specifically, as the components required to build a computer system havebeen greatly reduced in size, new categories of computer systems haveemerged. One of these new categories of computer systems is the PersonalDigital Assistant (PDA). A PDA is a portable computer system that issmall enough to be held conveniently and comfortably in the hand of itsuser. In particular, a popular size for the typical PDA approximates thesize of a palm.

The PDA is usually a battery-powered device that is typically used as anelectronic organizer having the capability to store and display a widerange of information which can include numerous addresses and telephonenumbers of business and personal acquaintances, financial information,daily appointments, along with various other personal information. Assuch, the PDA is able to consolidate a wide variety of information andmake the information easily accessible by its user. Therefore, PDAs arevery useful and have gained wide popularity.

As the popularity of personal digital assistants increases, morefunctions and devices are integrated into a PDA. One example is theintegration of a cellular phone into the PDA. Combining a PersonalDigital Assistant with a cellular phone provides a very powerful devicefor a multitude of functions. One function in particular is calleridentification. The benefits of caller identification have beenappreciated, but when combined with a Personal Digital Assistant, moreopportunities arise.

Caller identification provides the called party with the name and/ortelephone number of the calling party. Caller identification is usuallyprovided to a customer by its local central office. Most often, eachcentral office has access to a local database containing telephonenumbers and the corresponding names of people within its local area.Before connecting a call to the called party, the central officesearches its database for the telephone number of the calling party. Ifthe telephone number is found within the database, the namecorresponding to that number will be accessed and are delivered to thecalled party by the central office using a predetermined protocol.

If the telephone number and name are not stored on the database, theservice cannot provide a name to the called party. When a service isunable to identify a name corresponding to the number, it may deliveronly the phone number and a message indicating that the calling party'sname is unavailable. This is an undesirable result for a customer whowants to know information about the party calling. Particularly with theuse of cellular phones, the caller ID function provides only the phonenumber of the calling party. Unless a phone number has been previouslyprogrammed into the phone, the resulting display only provides the phonenumber of the caller. Without any further information about the caller,except the caller's phone number, the user may not know anything aboutthe caller thereby loosing the benefits of caller ID.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Thus, there exists a need for a device that uses a partial phone numberor a wild card entry to identify characteristics of an incoming call.The present invention uses a Personal Digital Assistant and a caller IDto provide detailed information to a called party. With the use of aPersonal Digital Assistant, the called party can retrieve informationabout the caller even if the caller ID does not provide the name of thecaller.

In accordance with the present invention, a caller identification systemand method are disclosed to permit caller identification of partialphone numbers. Embodiments of the present invention provide a flexibleand programmable caller identification system that can provideinformation about phone numbers not previously recorded in a caller IDdatabase. In addition, the caller ID system can be integrated into aportable electronic device, e.g., a portable computer system to furtherexpand the capabilities of a partial information caller identificationsystem. When the caller ID service can't provide the name of the caller,the PDA is queried to give any information that corresponds to thetelephone number of the caller. For example, the PDA could have a storeddatabase of area codes and corresponding cities. When a call isreceived, and no caller ID information is supplied, the PDA could bequeried to provide the name of the city that corresponds to the areacode of where the call was coming from. Likewise, the PDA can have astored database of telephone Prefixes of cellular phone carriers. Thiswould allow a user to be notified that a call was originated from acellular phone and be provided information about the caller such as thecellular provider the caller is using.

Embodiments of the present invention include a caller identificationsystem and method for identifying a caller with a partial phone numberlook-up table. The caller identification system comprises a databasethat stores received calls and can be personalized to includeinformation specific to partial phone numbers. In one embodiment, thecaller identification system disclosed can be integrated into a cellularphone. In this embodiment, an incoming call initiates a search in adatabase to retrieve information about the caller. If a match is found,the identity of the caller is displayed. When an exact match is notfound, a search for a partial match is executed and information aboutthe partial match is displayed. Information for a partial match can bepersonalized or preprogrammed into the caller ID system such as the cityassociated with a particular area code or prefix. In particular, phonenumbers with wild card flags can be programmed into the database tofacilitate this type of search.

More specifically, in one embodiment, a Personal Digital Assistant (PDA)is coupled to the caller identification system. The calleridentification system comprises a telephone sub-circuit for receivingtelephone calls, caller identification logic for receiving calleridentification, a memory for storing a database of received andpre-programmed phone numbers and partial phone numbers, and a processorfor determining a match or the closest match between the incoming callerID information and the caller ID information stored in the database. Inanother embodiment, the match logic and the database can be located in aremote server and the caller identification is transmitted to thedisplay unit.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part ofthis specification, illustrate embodiments of the invention and,together with the description, serve to explain the principles of theinvention:

FIG. 1 is a system illustration of an exemplary personal digitalassistant computer system connected to other computer systems and theinternet via a cradle device.

FIG. 2A is a top-side perspective view of an exemplary personal digitalassistant computer system.

FIG. 2B is a bottom side perspective view of the personal digitalassistant computer system of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 3 is a logical block diagram of circuitry located within theexemplary personal digital assistant computer system of FIG. 2A.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of database that is used in one embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 5 is a logical block diagram of a caller ID system that isincorporated into a PDA.

FIG. 6 is a flow chart of the process that occurs in one embodiment ofthe present invention when a PDA receives caller ID information.

FIG. 7 is a logical block diagram of a caller ID system incorporatedinto a cradle device that is coupled to a phone line.

FIG. 8 is a logical block diagram of a caller ID system thatincorporates a remote server/PC.

FIG. 9 is a logical block diagram of a caller ID system thatincorporates a remote telephone system.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

In the following detailed description of the present invention, a methodand system for caller identification with a partial phone number look-uptable, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the present invention. However, it will be recognizedby one skilled in the art that the present invention may be practicedwithout these specific details or with equivalents thereof. In otherinstances, well-known methods, procedures, components, and circuits havenot been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects ofthe present invention.

Notation and Nomenclature

Some portions of the detailed descriptions that follow are presented interms of procedures, steps, logic blocks, processing, and other symbolicrepresentations of operations on data bits within a computer memory.These descriptions and representations are the means used by thoseskilled in the data processing arts to most effectively convey thesubstance of their work to others skilled in the art. A procedure,computer executed step, logic block, process, etc., is here, andgenerally, conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps orinstructions leading to a desired result. The steps are those thatrequire physical manipulations of physical quantities. Usually, thoughnot necessarily, these quantities take the form of electrical ormagnetic signals capable of being stored, transferred, combined,compared, and otherwise manipulated in a computer system. It has provenconvenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, to referto these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters, terms,numbers, or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the followingdiscussions, it is appreciated that throughout the present invention,discussions utilizing terms such as “receiving”, “posting”, “opening”,“sending”, “monitoring”, “examining” or the like, refer to the actionand processes of a computer system (e.g., FIG. 3), or similar electroniccomputing device, that manipulates and transforms data represented asphysical (electronic) quantities within the computer system's registersand memories into other data similarly represented as physicalquantities within the computer system memories or registers or othersuch information storage, transmission or display devices.

Aspects of the present invention, described below, are discussed interms of steps executed on a computer system. These steps (e.g., process600) are implemented as program code stored in computer readable memoryunits of a computer system and are executed by the processor of thecomputer system. Although a variety of different computer systems can beused with the present invention, an exemplary personal digital assistantcomputer system is shown in FIG. 3 further below.

Referring now to FIG. 1, a system 50 that may be used in conjunctionwith the present invention is shown. It is appreciated that the methodand system for caller identification with partial information can beused in conjunction with any computer system and that system 50 isillustrative rather than limiting. It is further appreciated that theportable computer system 100 described below is only exemplary. System50 comprises a host computer system 56 which can either be a desktopunit as shown, or, alternatively, can be a laptop computer system 58.Optionally, one or more host computer systems can be used within system50. Host computer systems 58 and 56 are shown connected to acommunication bus 54, which in one embodiment can be a serialcommunication bus, but could be of any of a number of well knowndesigns, e.g., a parallel bus, Ethernet, Local Area Network (LAN), etc.Optionally, bus 54 can provide communication with the Internet 52 usinga number of well-known protocols. Additionally, system 50 can beconnected to telephone network 70 by communications bus 55, which in oneembodiment can be a telephone line, but could be of any number ofwell-known designs.

Importantly, bus 54 is also coupled to a cradle 60 for receiving andinitiating communication with a personal digital assistant computersystem 100. Cradle 60 provides an electrical and mechanicalcommunication interface between bus 54 (and anything coupled to bus 54)and computer system 100 for two-way communications. Computer system 100also contains a wireless communication mechanism 64 for sending andreceiving information from other devices. The wireless communicationmechanism 64 can use infrared communication or other wirelesscommunications such as a Bluetooth protocol.

With reference to FIG. 2A, a perspective illustration of the top face100 a of exemplary personal digital assistant computer system 100 isshown. Top face 110 a contains a display screen 105 surrounded by abezel or cover. A removable stylus 80 is also shown. Display screen 105is a touch screen capable of registering contact between the screen andthe tip of stylus 80. Stylus 80 can be fabricated of any material whichcan make contact with screen 105. Top face 100 a also contains one ormore dedicated and/or programmable buttons 75 for selecting informationand causing computer system 100 to implement functions. An on/off button95 is shown as well.

Referring still to FIG. 2A, a handwriting recognition pad or “digitizer”containing regions 106 a and 106 b is also shown. Specifically, region106 a is for the drawing of alpha characters therein for automaticrecognition and region 106 b is for the drawing of numeric characterstherein for automatic recognition. Stylus 80 is used for stroking acharacter within one of the regions 106 a and 106 b. The strokeinformation is then fed to an internal processor for Automatic characterrecognition. Once characters are recognized, they are typicallydisplayed on screen 105 for verification and/or modification.

FIG. 2B illustrates the bottom side 100 b of one embodiment of personaldigital assistant computer system 100. An optional extendible antenna 85is shown, and a battery storage compartment door 90 is shown as well. Acommunication interface 108 is also shown. In one embodiment of thepresent invention, the serial communication interface 108 comprises aserial communication port, but it could also alternatively be of any ofa number of well known communication standards and protocols, e.g.,parallel, small computer system interface (SCSI), Ethernet, Firewire(IEEE 1394), etc. In a currently preferred embodiment, communicationinterface 108 comprises an interrupt pin and a device sense pin,sometimes also known as a VID pin.

Referring now to FIG. 3, a block diagram of exemplary personal digitalassistant computer system 100 is shown. Computer system 100 includes anaddress/data bus 99 for communicating information, a central processor101 coupled with bus 99 for processing information and instructions, avolatile memory unit 102 (e.g., random access memory, static RAM,dynamic RAM, etc.) coupled with bus 99 for storing information andinstructions for central processor 101 and a non-volatile memory unit103 (e.g., read only memory, programmable ROM, flash memory, EPROM,EEPROM, etc.) coupled with bus 99 for storing static information andinstructions for processor 101. As described above, computer system 100also contains a display device 105 coupled to bus 99 for displayinginformation to the computer user. As described further below, portionsof memory units 102 and 103 can be removed from computer system 100.Moreover, computer system 100 can also include an optional data storagedevice 104 (e.g., memory stick) for storing information andinstructions. In one embodiment, optional data storage device 104 isremovable from computer system 100.

Also included in computer system 100 of FIG. 3 is an optionalalphanumeric input device 106 which, in one implementation, is ahandwriting recognition pad (“digitizer”) having regions 106 a and 106 b(FIG. 2A), for instance. Device 106 can communicate information andcommand selections to central processor 101. Computer system 100 alsoincludes an optional cursor control or directing device 107 coupled tobus 99 for communicating user input information and command selectionsto central processor 101. In one implementation, device 107 is a touchscreen device incorporated with screen 105. In this implementation,device 107 is capable of registering a position on screen 105 where astylus makes contact. Display device 105 utilized with computer system100 may be a liquid crystal device (LCD), cathode ray tube (CRT), fieldemission device (FED, also called flat—CRT) or other display devicesuitable for creating graphic images and alphanumeric charactersrecognizable to the user. In a currently preferred embodiment display105 is a flat panel display. Computer system 100 also includes signalcommunication interface 108, which is also coupled to bus 99, and can bea serial port for communicating with cradle 60. Communication interface108 can also include number of wireless communication mechanisms such asinfrared or a Bluetooth protocol.

Additionally computer system 100 includes caller ID database 109. CallerID database 109 may be incorporated into non-volatile memory unit 103,but may also be a separate memory device. In addition, computer system100 includes a telephone or cellular phone circuit 111. The telephonecircuit 111 can utilize any predetermined wireless or wired telephoneprotocols to connect to a telephone network 70 in FIG. 1. Also includedin computer system 100 is a caller ID circuit 110. Caller ID circuit iscoupled to the telephone or cellular phone circuit 111 to retrieve thephone number of an incoming call.

It Is appreciated that computer system 100 described herein illustratesan exemplary configuration of an operational platform upon whichembodiments of the present invention can be implemented. Nevertheless,other computer systems with differing configurations can also be used inplace of computer system 100 within the scope of the present invention.

FIG. 4 is an illustration of a database 400 with partial phone numbersas used in one embodiment of the present invention. Many caller IDsystems, especially caller ID systems on cellular phones, will notdisplay the name of the caller if the exact number is not previouslyprogrammed into the phone. In one embodiment of the present invention, acaller ID system would use a database of partial phone numbers with wildcard values therein to retrieve information about the caller even if thephone number of the caller has not been previously stored.

A telephone number area code usually depicts where the call originates.If the area code of a telephone number is known, a simple look up tablecan be used to determine the geographical location of the caller. Forexample, FIG. 4 illustrates an identifier column 401 with acorresponding phone number column 402. In addition, FIG. 4 shows anincoming phone number entry 403. Incoming phone number entry 403represents the caller ID information received with a call. If a call isreceived and the entry is not programmed into the database, the callerID system of the present invention will look in the database for a closematch of the phone number received. As in FIG. 4, if a call is receivedform the 408 area code, the caller ID system of the present inventionwill display “Santa Clara Co.” to alert the user of the geographiclocation of where the call originated.

In another embodiment, the caller ID system of the present invention isconfigured to recognize calls from a particular cellular carrier orcity. Most cellular services use specific prefixes for the phone numbersused by their customers. When two phone numbers contain the same areacode and prefix, it is very likely the two numbers originate from thesame central office (if from a land line) or from the same cellularcarrier (if a wireless call). For example, in FIG. 4 there is a partialmatch for a particular cellular service provider. The entry in thedatabase 400 is (408) 691****. When a call is received and it contains a408 area code and a 691 prefix, it can be assumed that the calloriginated from the same cellular service provider as the partial matchin the database. In this case, the caller ID system will display whichcellular service provider the call originated from. Furthermore, thedatabase 400 contains an entry “San Jose” and the partial match is (408)321****. If a call received contains the 408 area code and 321 prefix,it can be assumed that the call received is from the same city as thepartial match and the caller ID system will display the city the calloriginated from.

Furthermore, the partial match database 400 can be useful fordetermining calls originating from a particular business or company. Forexample, in a commercial telephone system (if it has a multitude ofphone lines) all numbers share a similar area code and prefix. Differentphone numbers are given to each phone in the company usually designatedby an extension. In FIG. 4, there is an entry named “Work” and thepartial match is (408) 123-45**. If a the phone number of a callreceived reads (408) 123-4567, the caller ID system will alert that“Work” is calling. In this embodiment, the call is known to originatefrom “Work” even though an exact match is not listed in the database.Furthermore, if the phone number of a call received reads (555)555-5555, the caller ID system will look to database 400 and find theexact match for the phone number and will return the identifier “JohnDoe.”

Database 400 also contains generic names and partial matches. In oneembodiment of the present invention, the database 400 is pre-programmedto contain likely partial matches such as area codes and prefixes. In apreferred embodiment, the database is pre-programmed with generic dataand can be personalized by the user to contain unique partial matches.The user can manipulate the database to contain the preferred partialmatches for calls most likely received. For example, one can enter thearea code and prefix of a workplace to recognize calls received fromwork. In addition to personalizing database 400, it is recognized thatpersonalized ring tones can be programmed according to different typesof calls. For example, a call received from a cellular phone can have adifferent ring tone than one that is received from a land line. Inanother embodiment, database 400 can be updated by connecting to theInternet and downloading generic caller information such as area codesand prefixed to indicate geographic locations of incoming calls.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram 500 of a caller ID system in accordance withthe present invention. In the present embodiment, the device is a handheld device 100. However, it is appreciated that the wireless device maybe another type of intelligent electronic device. In this embodiment, atelephone call is received by phone circuit 111 and the phone numberassociated with the incoming call is extracted by caller ID circuit 110.Once the phone number of the incoming call is determined, processor 101looks to memory 103 to see if an entry in database 109 matches thenumber of the incoming call. In database 109, there exists a pluralityof exact matches, partial phone numbers and wild card entries, If amatch is found, the information associated to the database entry isdisplayed on display device 105.

FIG. 6 is a flow diagram 600 of the process of determining a caller froma partial match database on an electronic device. First a telephone callis received 601. When the call is received, it wakes up the PDA 602.U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/727,228, entitled “Method and SystemFor Latency Independent Peripheral Device Identification,” PALM-3284filed Nov. 29, 2002, hereby incorporated by reference herein, describesa system and method for identifying a peripheral device detachablycoupled to a computer system. In one embodiment of the presentinvention, an incoming phone call wakes the PDA from a sleep mode 602.Once awakened, the caller ID information is extracted and it istransferred to the PDA for evaluation 603. To extend battery life,computer system 100 goes into a sleep mode when not in use. In oneembodiment of the present invention, this system described in theapplication entitled “Method and System For Latency-IndependentPeripheral Device Identification,” is used to wake up computer system100 when a call is received. This allows computer system 100 to processthe caller ID information received and display data associated to thecaller ID information. In one embodiment, computer system 100 stores thecaller ID information to memory for further manipulation. In step 604the PDA stores the phone number in a database. The caller ID informationis evaluated and the PDA searches a database for a match or partialmatch of the caller ID information received 605. If an exact match isfound, the caller's name will be displayed 606. If a partial match isfound, the information attached to the partial match will be displayed.In one embodiment, a tone is produced when a match is found and it isdifferent depending on the identification of the caller.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram 700 of a caller ID system that utilizes acradle device 60 in combination with computer system 100. In thisembodiment, cradle 60 comprises a slot 260 for PDA 100. Slot 260provides a mechanical and electrical connection between cradle device 60and computer system 100. Additionally, slot 260 can charge computersystem 100. Cradle device 60 also comprises phone circuit 111 coupled tocaller ID circuit 110 to retrieve the phone number of an incoming callfrom phone network 70. The phone number is sent to computer system 100wherein process 600 (FIG. 6) retrieves information about the caller. Theinformation is then displayed on display device 105.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram 800 of a caller ID system that incorporates aremote phone system 901. In this embodiment, phone system 901 is remotefrom computer system 100. In this embodiment, phone system 901 receivesa telephone call and an associated phone number. The information is sentby a wireless connection to the remote computer system 100. Once theinformation is received, the steps of process 600 (FIG. 6) are carriedout and the caller information is sent back to the phone system 901 anddisplayed on display device 902.

FIG. 9 is a block diagram 900 of a caller ID system similar to FIG. 8but only incorporates one way communication between phone system 901 andcomputer system 100. In this embodiment, the phone system 901 receives atelephone call and an associated phone number and sends the informationto computer system 100. Then the steps of process 600 (FIG. 6) arecarried out and the caller information is displayed on computer system100.

The preferred embodiment of the present invention, a calleridentification system and method for use with partial information, isthus described. While the present invention has been described inparticular embodiments, it should be appreciated that the presentinvention should not be construed as limited by such embodiments, butrather construed according to the following claims.

The foregoing descriptions of specific embodiments of the presentinvention have been presented for purposes of illustration anddescription. They are not intended to be exhaustive or to limit theinvention to the precise forms disclosed, and obviously manymodifications and variations are possible in light of the aboveteaching. The embodiments were chosen and described in order to bestexplain the principles of the invention and its practical application,to thereby enable others skilled in the art to best utilize theinvention and various embodiments with various modifications as aresuited to the particular use contemplated. It is intended that the scopeof the invention be defined by the Claims appended hereto and theirequivalents.

1. A caller identification system comprising: a communication interfacefor receiving at least part of a partial phone number associated with anincoming telephone call from a telephone external to the communicationinterface; a memory for storing a database comprising at least onepartial phone number and a corresponding identifier; a processor fordetermining if said phone number of said incoming telephone call matchesat least one partial phone number in said database and, if so, forretrieving its associated identifier; and a display for displaying theassociated identifier, wherein the communication interface is also forsending the associated identifier to the telephone external to thecommunication interface.
 2. A system as described in claim 1, whereinthe associated identifier is a geographic location determined by an areacode.
 3. A system as described in claim 1, wherein the associatedidentifier is a cellular carrier responsible for an area code and aprefix.
 4. A system as described in claim 1, wherein the associatedidentifier is a city determined by an area code and a prefix.
 5. Asystem as described in claim 1, wherein the associated identifier is atext string associated with an area code, a prefix and at least onesubsequent numeric digit.
 6. A system as described in claim 1, whereinthe database is pre-programmed with generic data.
 7. A system asdescribed in claim 1, wherein the database is user customizable.
 8. Asystem as described in claim 1, further comprising a ring-tone generatorfor generating one of a plurality of ring tones in accordance with theassociated identifier.
 9. A system as described in claim 1, furthercomprising a tone generator for generating a tone when a match is foundbetween the incoming phone number and the database.
 10. A system asdescribed in claim 1, wherein the communication interface uses awireless communication channel.
 11. In an electronic system, a methodfor providing caller information comprising: a) receiving a partialphone number of an incoming phone call from an external telephone; b)indexing a database stored in a memory for a match with said at leastpart of said phone number, the database having a plurality of partialphone numbers each with an associated identifier; c) accessing anidentifier associated with said match of b); d) displaying saididentifier of c); and e) sending the said identifier of c) to theexternal telephone.
 12. A method as described in claim 11, wherein theassociated identifier is a geographic location determined by an areacode.
 13. A method as described in claim 11, wherein the associatedidentifier is a cellular carrier responsible for an area code and aprefix.
 14. A method as described in claim 11, wherein the associatedidentifier is a city determined by an area code and a prefix.
 15. Amethod as described in claim 11, wherein the associated identifier is atext string associated with an area code, a prefix and at least onesubsequent numeric digit.
 16. A method as described in claim 11, whereinthe database is pre-programmed with generic data.
 17. A method asdescribed in claim 11, wherein the database is user customizable.
 18. Amethod as described in claim 11, further comprising generating one of aplurality of ring tones in accordance with the associated identifier.19. A method as described in claim 11, further comprising generating atone when a match is found between the incoming phone number and thedatabase.
 20. A method as described in claim 11, wherein the at leastpart of a phone number is received using a wireless communicationchannel.